Newsletter 2/6/2020

Thank you

• To our reading volunteers in the 1/2 Grade Room.  We appreciate you all coming each week.
• Thanks to Northern Lights Planetarium, our students were all able to experience the night sky and the universe right inside our gym last week. You probably wish you could have been there. Luckily for you, the planetarium is coming back for an evening show on March 2, so save the date! Thanks to the PTF for funding these events.

  

  

  
  

  

  

  
  

Pre-K/K Looking ForPre-K/ K room is looking for donations of gently used (or new) decks of playing cards, legos, and Dr. Seuss books to add to our classroom library (we promise to use the books gently and return them). Thank you…Julie Wilson

Pre-K/K  Readers

School Spirit Week

School spirit week will be 2/10-2/14.  Listed below are some of the events for those days:

• Monday: Wear your favorite sports team attire
• Tuesday: Wacky Hair Day
• Wednesday: Wacky Socks Day
• Thursday: Hat Day
• Friday: Winter Carnival Day, Wear School Colors, and Student vs Staff Basketball game

Instructional Updates

Prek-k: On Monday Kindergarten and Pre-K students were fortunate enough to experience the “ABCs Of the Sky” in a giant silver igloo! Thanks to Northern Lights Planetarium and our PTF, the planetarium came right to our gymnasium! The presented complimented our Pre-k/K students’ behavior and was impressed at how knowledgeable we already are about our universe!

Our math exploration this week included making predictions about the relationships between the height and weight of objects. Students who wanted to be weighed and measured were surprised to see that someone who is older might be lighter or shorter than someone who is younger. We confirmed that unifix cube towers that are taller do weigh more than their shorter counterparts, while a tall student may or may not weigh more than a shorter student. Math extension activities that students are loving are Build then draw ~ students build then they sketch or draw their creations; another favorite is: I build/ you copy: student creates a design with pattern blocks for a friend to replicate.

February is when we typically see a mini-explosion into reading, and this February is no exception. February is also when we begin to fill the classroom with Dr. Seuss’s books full of rhyme, repetition, sight words and picture cues. The pure joy a child exudes when they realize they are able to read  “a real” book can not be expressed or described to others, but it is a joy that is a true honor to be a part of.

3/4 ELA – This week we continued to read Bullfrog on Magnolia Avenue for details regarding bullfrogs.  Did you know that how fast they change from tadpole to bullfrog depends on their habitat?  They can spend as much as two and a half to three years as a tadpole!  They can also spend as little as a year as a tadpole!  HMM – wonder what makes the difference?

5/6 ELA – This week students continued reading Astrophysics for Young People in a Hurry. We learned that scientists admit they don’t know everything, but that they use the laws of physics, as we know them, and make some generalizations about how the galaxies were formed and how our world came to be.  There is always the underlying admission that they (scientists) have been wrong in the past, and may be proved wrong in the future. There is always a challenge for our students to be the ones who investigate the theories and who move the sciences forward.

7/8 ELA –  Students have continued to read The Last Kids on Earth and to write a thought-provoking book review about that book.  Reviews are due on Tuesday, Feb. 4.  We will then work together to critique and improve reviews as students begin the reading of the young version of I AM Malala.

3/4 Super Studies: On Monday, the students had the wonderful opportunity to participate in a planetarium show at school! The PTF funded a visit from the huge, portable, planetarium dome, and the students saw a show about the night sky and eclipses. This week the students also did a great job finding even more facts and details to include in their final poster project to show what they’ve learned about Maine history and Maine state symbols. Read more about the contest we will be submitting our posters here: https://www.maine.gov/sos/kids/programs/constitution-essay. We also submitted the kids’ grant application to fund planning a celebration for Maine’s bicentennial.

5/6 Super Studies: On Monday, the students had the wonderful opportunity to participate in a planetarium show at school! The PTF funded a visit from the huge, portable, planetarium dome, and the students saw a show about the night sky and our universe. The students have also been doing a wonderful job digging into the first part of our Civil War unit. To understand what led to the war, students are learning about the history of slavery in the US.

7/8 Super Studies: On Monday, the students had the wonderful opportunity to participate in a planetarium show at school! The PTF funded a visit from the huge, portable, planetarium dome, and the students saw a show about the night sky and our universe. The students also began their next social studies unit on global education issues. They learned about what it is like to go to school for some students in India, Kenya, Japan, and Benin.

3/4 Math: 3rd and 4th-grade mathematicians focused their fluency work this week on the multiples of 4. They are making great progress! Our 3rd-grade mathematicians learned about the multiples of 10 and improved their understanding of two-step word problems. 4th-grade mathematicians expanded their work with multiplying whole numbers to multiply two digits by two digits. They explored how to do this with the area model, measuring the area of rooms within our school.

5/6 Math: Our 5th and 6th-grade mathematicians started the week with an assessment, demonstrating their learning on fractions and integers (respectively). 5th-grade mathematicians began our new module, where they had a refresher on line plots. They then began thinking about fractions as division. Our 6th-grade mathematicians worked with the coordinate plane, exploring how to find the distance on the coordinate plane and then solving geometric problems on the coordinate plane.

7/8 Math: Our 7th-grade mathematicians continued their work with inequalities, working on graphing the solutions to inequalities. They then applied their work with equations to using the formulas for area and circumference of circles and semicircles. Our 8th-grade mathematicians continued their work with linear equations as they worked on word problems. They then worked on graphing linear equations that dealt with constant rate and then began to see how you could graph linear equations by finding multiple solutions to the equation.

PTF News

The warm clothing rack is still in constant use and is helping children and adults get into warm gear. Drop off warm, clean winter gear and we will make sure it gets on the right people. Please come in and take what you need!

The Coffee Socials have switched to once a month. The hope is that the coffee socials can be an opportunity for you to chat with other parents, to communicate with Mrs. Blake, and to hang out in your school community. There will be a new theme or discussion for each month. If there is something you would like to hear discussed with the principal or other parents let us know. We look forward to having coffee with you!

Soup, Chili, Chowder Challenge: This community event showcases the talented foodies on the peninsula. Break out your aprons and get cookin’!
The Brooklin School PTF will be collecting donations for former Brooklin School coach and student, Jesse Dow. This money will help support Jesse as he makes his way through cancer treatment & recovery.
First place is a 100 CASH, 2nd place is $75 and 3rd is $50. Come early to make sure there is plenty of soup!
$5/person or $15/family. Free entry when you bring soup. There will be musical guests and an epic raffle basket.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1047923408888669/

Upcoming Events:

• 2/14 The PTF and Brooklin School are planning a Winter Carnival for February 14. The more parents there to help this fun event the better. If you would like to help please text 207-266-1298 or get in touch with Molly Blake.
• 2/14 Coffee Social
• 2/25 3:10 PTF Meeting
• 3/7 March Soup Chili Chowder Cookoff- start planning your winning recipe now!
• 3/15 Coffee Social

Community News

Special Events at the Blue Hill Public library

• Feb 4 Wild Sun Catchers: Yellow Birch & Alder 3:30 PM Howard Room Learn all about these local plants in a special activity with Landere Naisbitt of Blue Hill Heritage Trust. Make twig heart crafts, and brew birch tea! Ages 5-12.Feb 5, 12, 26 and March 4
• Playgroup Yoga 10:30-11:00 AM Howard Room For four dates in February & March, Rebecca Rose Tousignant will offer a half-hour yoga session for toddlers & families at the beginning of our regular Preschool Playgroup.
• Feb 12th and  26th  Lego Club 3:00 PM Larchwood Room Come build with Legos! Create from your imagination or a special challenge. Ages 5+.
• Feb 14 Make Your Own Stickers with a Digital Cutting Machine 3:30 PM Howard Room James Rutter, Fab Lab coordinator at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, will show you how to design your own stickers and use a printer and cutting machine to create them. Ages 10+.
• Feb 17 Closed for Presidents’ Day
• Feb 18 Wild Sun Catchers Story time 10:30 AM Larchwood Room Landere Naisbitt of Blue Hill Heritage Trust will read a Not a Stick by Antoinette Portis, and kids will have the opportunity to make magic wands with sticks and yarn in this special nature-themed edition of Storytime.
• Feb 19 Explore Outdoors!: Snowflakes 4:00 PM Howard Room Have you ever wondered how many kinds of snowflakes there are? Join us for an outdoor adventure to collect snowflakes that we will examine and preserve, and a discussion on the importance of snow during the winter (plus a sweet treat). Ages 9-13. Registration required at www.bhpl.net or 374-5515.
• Feb 20 Pajama Story time 4:30 PM Larchwood Room Wear your pajamas, bring a stuffed animal and join us for a story, songs, and coloring.
• Feb 29 Crafternoons! : Snowflakes 1:00 PM   Howard Room Kids of all ages are invited to work on a craft project the last Saturday of every month. For February, we will be making paper snowflakes. All materials provided by the library.

ALL PROGRAMS ARE FREE AND DO NOT REQUIRE REGISTRATION UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

February

• 2/6 GSA Registration
• 6:00 PM GSA Meeting with Town on Tuition Questions
• 2/7 NO SCHOOL—Parent/Teacher Conferences
• 7:00 PM  A Team Tournament at GSA
• 2/8 8:30 AM A Team Finals
• 2/10-2/14 Spirit Week
• 2/14 Winter Carnival
• 2/17-2/21VACATION WEEK
• 2/28 1:00 PM Early Release